Vega–Sentinel-2C upper-composite being lifted onto transport gear

In preparation for liftoff on 4 September 2024 (3 September Kourou time), the team at Europe’s Spaceport has taken the Vega fairing holding the Copernicus Sentinel-2C satellite to the launch pad. The photograph shows the satellite being lifted onto the transport gear that is used to roll the upper-composite from the cleanroom to the launch pad.

The Sentinel-2 mission is based on a constellation of two identical satellites, Sentinel-2A (launched in 2015) and Sentinel-2B (launched in 2017), flying in the same orbit but 180° apart to optimise coverage and revisit time.

Each satellite carries a high-resolution multispectral imager to deliver optical images from the visible to the shortwave-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. From the altitude of 786 km, the satellites provide images in 13 spectral bands with resolutions of 10, 20 and 60 m over a large swath width of 290 km.

Data collected from Sentinel-2 are used for a wide range of applications, including precision farming, water quality monitoring, natural disaster management and methane emission detection.

Once in orbit, Sentinel-2C will replace its predecessor, Sentinel-2A, while Sentinel-2D will later replace Sentinel-2B.